New Favorite Glaze Combination

I recently came across this glaze combination that I'm really liking. I love the way the green blends into the purple and makes blue where the two colors intersect. It's hit or miss with glaze combinations. You never really know what you are going to get with combining glazes - even when you think you will. I love opening up the kiln and unloading it - discovering what turned out well - and trying to forget about what didn't.

The clay body can have a big effect on the glazes as well. Here is the same glaze on a white clay body and on a red clay body. The results are strikingly different, aren't they!?

A Fresh Start for a New Year

Today I finished up a much needed and long overdue studio re-org. I've been thinking about new shelving for a long time now and finally bought some. I finished assembling it yesterday during a long power outage and today I put everything away. I seem to work better in a cleaned up space, so I'm looking forward to getting back to work. Although, it likely won't be "clean" for long. Clay is messy business.

LOVE! that Kitchen

One of my soap/lotion dispensers is currently featured in an Etsy Treasury. I love the color of this blue glaze.

Options

After a busy holiday season and some not so fun surgery on my mouth, I'm back at it. I just shipped off another Celebration Plate today and I'm catching up on some custom orders from December. I'm anxious to wrap up the paperwork and books from 2009 so I can move on creatively and get my hands back into clay.

I'm a big list maker and recently discovered that my youngest son, who is in 1st grade, seems to be as well. I found this list in his room recently.

The spelling is precious. My favorite part is at the bottom. Here's a translation:

Opshins (options - these must be the things he doesn't have to do daily)

Leos (LEGOS)

Pludate (playdate)

Gro (grow!)

I'm wondering if I should add "Shrink" to my to do list!?! ;-)

Ringing in the New Year - in '80's Style

For the second year in a row we've rung in the New Year with some of our good friends. This year we all met up in Olympia and had a great time. Last year we discoed until dawn (almost - we're getting old and still have little ones in our midst ;-)) and this year we relived our high school years by jamming to 80's tunes while dressing up like Madonna, Flashdancers, big haired rockers and prom queens. I'm not sure where we'll end up next year or what decade we'll relive - but I'm looking forward to what 2010 has to bring our way.

Pink and Purple

One of my soap dispensers is featured in a current Etsy Treasury called "Pink and Purple". http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=103648

I'm looking forward to being productive in the New Year! Juggling my varying jobs has always been my challenge. My goal for 2010 is to be more structured with my time so that I go into the studio like I'm going to work. I'm not meaning that it feel like "work", but rather that it be on my schedule to commit the time to potting. That's my challenge. I love to work with clay, it's just that there are so many things pulling me so many ways through out the day that I often put it off and then end up staying up into the wee hours of the night to get things completed. Sleep gets missed and then it's all downhill from there. Sleep. That's another thing on my list of priorities for this year. To get more of it. We'll see how that one goes. I've struggled with that forever.